Below The Knee Amputee & WDW

[waterfront]

We are taking our first trip to WDW over the new year and If any other amputees with a prosthesis are out there and if they had any problems at WDW or airport security. I received my amputation while serving in the military and this will be my first time flying commercial with an amputation since security has tightened up so much.

Another question I have is would I problem getting that disability pass that allows people to sit while they wait for the rides. I've read that WDW suggests using a wheelchair but I will be spending two of the days in the parks alone with my 8 & 5 yr old because my husband has to go back to work early. I just don't think the wheelchair would be an option without an extra pair of adult hands helping me order, carry food to our table, etc. As I said I do really well with my prosthesis but I've never been on a walking trip of this kind and I'm pretty sure I am going to be hurting pretty bad even with being able to sit and wait for certain rides. The being able to sit and wait might help a little bit though.

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can give me on the disability pass or airport security.

 

[merryweather20]

I'm not specifically sure from your post if you are taking your trip right on the new year. If this is the case the parks will be super busy! There is a ton of walking at the parks since they are huge!

The GAC doesn't really shorten wait time, or let you wait in a place with seats either. It might be a good idea to ask for one for other reasons, to avoid stairs or to board in an area where they can stop the cars and allow additional boarding time(I'm not sure if either would be useful for you but its something to think about).

I'm sure someone will chime in with some more ideas but some things to consider:

1. Consider making your EPCOT day on of the days that your hubby is there since there will be the most walking here
2. Consider making MGM/DHS one of your solo days since there is less walking and standing and more show/theatre type attractions
3. Many of the lines move continuosly but the wait/distance can be very deceptive from what it appears at the entrance. The more popular rides (though not Pirates of the Caribbean) have fast passes which will make your wait in line shorter. One member of your party would take your tickets/room keys and get slips with a return time on them at which poin tyou could use the shorter fast pass lane
4. If you are staying on-site the hotels have their own wheel-chairs, so if you need one to help you get back to your room from the bus you should be able to ask a valet or another employee by the bus drop-off

I'm not sure a wheel-chair is your best option even if your hubby is there, he might be pushing your 2 year-old in a stroller or at the very least wrangling a 2 and 5 year-old. You might think about renting an ECV on your EPCOT day.

I've also heard other posters mention using a special cane that has a foldable seat on it.

Lots of for your trip

 

[SueM in MN]

If you haven't already looked at it, there is a lot of information in the disABILITIES FAQs thread that will be helpful to you. The 'disability pass' that you are asking about is a Guest Assistance Card (we call it GAC for short). There is a whole section about GACs in the FAQs that should be able to help you with your questions. If you have more, just ask.

There are also some links about air travel in the disABILITIES FAQs thread. One is a link to the Transportation Security Administration website page about travel with disabilities or medical equipment. I'd suggest you might want to print out the information about prosthesis. You should not have any problems, but just in case.

One of the reasons that WDW suggests a wheelchair or an ECV is that there are not that many attractions that have anyplace where you can sit. In many cases, the line is moving slowly forward all the time, so sitting is not really an option because you would have to keep getting up and down.
Another reason is that the distances walked in WDW are much larger than most people realize. It's not uncommon to walk up to 10 miles a day and the majority of it is not in line.

Also, some of the queues are a long distance to walk, whether the wait is 5 minutes or 2 hours. Some that are really long are Soarin' at Epcot, Pirates of Caribbean at MK and Bugs Life and the Safari at AK.

 

[zumbergc]

You could rent an ecv. for the days your without your spouse.

You could always leave the ecv, outside of where you are planning to eat, and walk w/ your prosthesis in and around the restraunt.

You don't have to stay seated in the ecv the whole time, just make sure to take the key with you. The same is true for the wheel chair. Since your not sure how much you can walk vs sitting in the chair/ecv. Take it easy the first day so as not to aggrivate your leg to much. Especially early in the day, do more ecv, and then save yourself more towards the end of the day because if you over do it, you could end up in pain. If its the end of the day and you have lots of energy, walk back to the bus (stick a kid in the wheelchair and push them), or have your DH take a load off and drive the ecv back to the bus, over to the resort. This way your still keeping up your strength. Like you could ride foran hour, walk 10-15 or more minutes, than take a break again, and use the wheel chair again. The ecv is an assistance tool for you, so use it as you need it. LIke at MK, you could use the ecv to get from land to land, and then park it to the side w/ strollers, do what you want, or when you get tired, need a break, get back in the ecv, off to the next ride, or land.

There was a post in the last few months where a person mistakenly believed getting a gac, was the solution to their mobility issues. Wanting a seperate place to wait. They were extremely disapointed about what happened, as disney kind of wants you to rent an ecv/wheel chair.

If your not sure you want to rent, or need to rent. At least print the rental locations from the sticky. This way if you change your mind, when you get to disney planning not to need it, but then when you get there, you realize you need one. If your staying on site and have disney transportation, renting offsite is the best bet.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Are your two kids OK about walking? Neither of them has any health issues that would make walking difficult, do they? If you reckon they could manage it (you know what your kids can and can't do happily), you could have them walk and you rent either a wheelchair or ECV. Obviously it wouldn't be advisable to try and do everything in the park in one day, but if you take it gently, and have plenty of ice cream breaks (nothing wrong with a spot of bribery from time to time ), it might work out well.

As some others have said, a good bit of planning can help you minimise the walking: do the largest parks (EPCOT and AK) with your husband if possible; go around them in a sensible order (don't hop from Buzz to HM to Pirates to Dumbo); plan ahead your timings of Fastpasses, meals and parades, so you don't need to cross the park to get to these on time.

HTH!

 

[waterfront]

Thanks for all of the great advice.

Both kids are very healthy. I can see where my 5 yr old son might become whiny because of being tired but as someone said plenty of ice cream breaks will work wonders and might give me a minute to rest.

 

[I Love Pluto]

I recently purchased an Airgo Navigator. It's a new concept of putting a rollator walker, chair, and wheelchair all in one. When using it as a walker, a seat is readily available when needed. If another adult is with you, the unit changes to a transport wheelchair.

I've used it on shopping trips which gave me a very convenient seat while waiting in checkout lines (especially whan you're hurting). I'm in a musical group, so the chair feature came in handy when we did an outdoor concert recently. We have also used it as a transport wheelchair. The entire unit weighs only 20 pounds.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your trip!

 

[mechurchlady]

Cast Members will help disabled guests with trays, just ask them. I would use an ECV or wheelchair to save the walking and standing in lines. I had a CM walk up to me at a fast food stand in a park and offer to help.

You do not have to use the wheelchair or ECV 100% of the time. I park mine then waddle to a show or park it and go inside a restaurant. If you want to push the chair for a while then do that.

If anyone gives you dirty looks then you can ignore them, hug them, yell at them, or when I am in a mood I educate them. Give the a whole explanation of why i an doing what i am doing, lol. Don't let what others think of your disabilities or anything odd you may be doing because of the disabilities.

Do everything you can to make it to the end of the day less tired and less hurting.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

As a former CM, I woud like to add this one word of caution about the ECVs: Nobody under 18 is even supposed to sit on them. If we see children riding on the laps of a person using an ECV, we are supposed to ask them to get off, this could cause a problem since you have two young children.

Another thing you might need to think about is any rides with height restrictions. My bf is a supervisor at a themepark in our state, and we actually had this conversation just last weekend. Where your amuptation is can affect your ability to ride certain thrill rides, especially if you do not have your prosthetic on for some reason. For example: a few of the rides my bf supervisors are roller coasters. They all require that any amputation be below the knee, you need at least that much leg for the restraint system to work properly. There is also the issue of having the prosthetic on the ride. I don't think that there are any rides at Disney that will cause a problem, but make sure you talk to your doctor first. My bf had to deal with an incident once where a person lost their prosthetic leg on a drop ride. I would imagine inverted coasters would also be a problem. Since all of WDW's rides (except for Soarin') have a floor, hopefully it won't be an issue for you.